For millennia, the sense of smell has been widely undervalued — ranked far below vision by the likes of Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud. In 2021, a survey in the journal Brain Sciences found that people consistently ranked smell below vision and hearing — and even below commercial products. One quarter of college students surveyed said they’d prefer to give up their sense of smell than their smartphones.
But modern research suggests that smell, also known as olfaction, is less dispensable than we might think. In recent decades, we’ve gained a greater understanding of just how much humans rely on the sense of smell — for everything from social communication to the detection of environmental hazards. Researchers even believe that changes in patients’ sense of smell could eventually be used to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases.
As the science of smell continues to progress, it’s becoming increasingly clear how much we stand to gain by focusing on it.
I lost my sense of taste and smell 20+ yrs ago (didn’t really realize it was gone until one morning I opened all the windows in the house, to cool it off, and my husband screamed at me for it. Seems a skunk had let loose outside and the smell was overpowering.)
Mostly used to it now, but I do eat a lot more spicy foods than before, just to ‘feel’ something other than bland blah on my tongue.
Man, that fucking sucks.
I lost my sense of smell for about a month when I got Covid for the first time and it was torture.
I’m sorry to hear that. Do you ever eat for pleasure if you can’t taste anything?
Not anymore. Is what it is.
Honestly I like the smell of skunk tho
I find it amusing that the article seems to imply that smell should be ranked evenly alongside sight and hearing. Like, yes, smell is obviously a valuable sense that I would hate to lose… But I’m still taking my eyes and ears over my nose if given the option.
Maybe because I already have hearing loss (speaking tones are not there) and have to lip read, I could do without hearing.
You obviously have no idea how hard it is to be without taste and smell.
So I read this and my 93yo uncle, who lost his sense of smell from a brain injury, was sitting right next to me. I just asked him what he thought of that statement and he laughed.
“Tell them it’s not even a contest. I can do anything I did before except taste dinner, and it wasn’t all that good back when I could. Don’t tell Bonny I said that.”
I’ve experienced loss of smell from covid, luckily it came back. It really sucks but I would rather be reduced to the tongue tastes than lose my hearing, both for utility and enjoyment.
Same. I love smelling, but against the other senses, smell is easily the least valuable.
Nah, I’ve lost it 25 years ago and never really missed it. On contrary, in the rare instances in which I was able to smell something since, it’s always been something I would rather not.
I lost my sense of smell for two days when I got covid and it was so sad. I huff everything all the time. Husband, dog, books, food… There’s something comforting about smelling things.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In 2021, a survey in the journal Brain Sciences found that people consistently ranked smell below vision and hearing — and even below commercial products.
In recent decades, we’ve gained a greater understanding of just how much humans rely on the sense of smell — for everything from social communication to the detection of environmental hazards.
It’s a sensitivity that would have made evolutionary sense for our foraging ancestors as they sought food, helping them to discern the smell of overripe fruit.
In 2015 a study from Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science found that after a handshake, people consistently brought their own hand to their nose — subconsciously smelling each other.
While the loss of smell emerged as a possible symptom of COVID-19 as early as March 2020, it took months for governments to add it to their screening guidelines for the virus — even after researchers flagged it as one of the most accurate indicators of infection.
A recent study published in the academic journal Life suggests that at least seven per cent of those who lost their sense of smell to COVID-19 have never fully recovered it.
The original article contains 1,195 words, the summary contains 185 words. Saved 85%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
